Motorsport News

Can Anyone Beat William Sawalich in ARCA East in 2023?

2023 ARCA Phoenix racing - William Sawalich, No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota (Credit: NKP)

Since 2021, Joe Gibbs Racing has been a frequent visitor to ARCA victory lane.

Ty Gibbs and Sammy Smith combined to win 31 trophies across all three series in 2021-2022. In the ARCA Menards Series East, Smith has won back-to-back series championships and Gibbs finished ninth in the 2021 points to accompany his main series title.

Now the East series is set for its eight-race season, but a new champion will be crowned.

William Sawalich pilots the No. 18 Toyota full-time in the East, and he nearly won his ARCA national debut at Phoenix Raceway. Yes, Sawalich rightly is the favorite to win the East championship, giving the No. 18 three in a row.

“Teaming up with Mark McFarland and the folks over there at Joe Gibbs Racing, he’s going to be somebody who is going to be tough to beat every single week,” ARCA Communications Manager Charles Krall told GRID Ranking contributor Casey Campbell. “He really will be. That’s a great racecar, great race team. Mark McFarland is as good as it gets on top of the pit box, so William is going to have a lot of pressure on him. That car has had a lot of success the last four years so if he doesn’t see that same success right out of the box, I think he’s going to start feeling some heat.”

Rev Racing won the main series drivers championship in 2022 with Nick Sanchez. This season, Lavar Scott wheels the No. 6 vying for back-to-back titles for the organization. Scott already impressed with a fourth-place showing in the ARCA season opener at Daytona International Speedway

The East series’ biggest racetrack is the Milwaukee Mile, much smaller than Daytona. Still, Scott’s performance has him feeling quite confident heading into the East season.

“I have no doubt we can keep that momentum rolling with more good results,” he told Frontstretch.

2023 is Scott’s first time wheeling an ARCA racecar. While he fully intends on bringing Rev more trophies, including the championship one, continual improvement is the priority.

“My biggest goal for my Rev Racing team is to do better and progress as the year goes on and become a better driver and develop,” he said. “Obviously, I want to bring home good racecars, I don’t want to wreck so they can make them go faster and not worry about fixing them. Obviously, I want to win. Winning is an important…

Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at …